Blood-sucking insects constitute one of the most significant health issues worldwide, as they spread numerous diseases (for example malaria, yellow fever, dengue, etc.) to both humans and animals and are generally burdensome. Insecticides are used for wide-scale destruction of these pests. A further possibility for controlling and fighting pest insects is the use of traps that are principally intended for small areas, in particular for closed spaces.
Insect traps are known in many types and styles. Simplest is the use of flypaper that is coated with glue so that the insects that contact with it get stuck. Other variants emit ultraviolet light or ultrasound and in this manner draw in insect pests. There are also device that use aromatic attractants, for example along with an air stream, so that the attracted insects are sucked by the air stream into a space and held there.
Such traps are described in US 2001/0045051 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,249. With this type of trap an attractant is distributed by a blower inside a cylindrical tube so as to draw in insects. Once they get close to the trap, the air stream sucks them into the trap. To this end a further tube is provided around the cylindrical tube. The insects are sucked into a space between the two coaxial tubes.
With the known types of traps carbon dioxide is used, since this gas is recognized by insects as what is exhaled by humans and animals and therefore attracts them.
The effectiveness and efficiency of the hitherto known traps is however mainly limited because they cannot be fully effective to neutralize all the insects in a given room or space. In addition the traps that emit carbon dioxide are relatively expensive to make and operate.